Improvement in bell-striking mechanisms



W. E. SPARKS. Bell-Striking Mechanism.

No. 223,073. Patented Dec. 30,1879.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIoL WILLIAM E. SPARKS, OF NEW BRITAIN,CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO P. & F. OORBIN, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN BELL-STRIKING MECHANISMS.

Speciiication forming part of Letters Patent No. 223,073, dated December30, 1879; application lcd July 29, 1879.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. SPARKS, of New Britain, in the county ofHartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Bell-Strikin g Mechanisms, of which the following is aspeciiication.

The invention has for its object cheapness of production by so formingthe parts that after the castings are obtained they may be readily puttogether with but little or no iittin g, and Without any drilling orriveting; and the in vention consists in the peculiar construction ofcertain parts and in their combination, as hereinafter more fullydescribed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a front elevation of abell-striking mechanism which embodies my invention. Fig. 2 is a rearelevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a sectional View of the saine on line xa ot' Fig. l; and Fig. 4 is a detached view ot' parts thereof'.

A designates the baseplate, having a oentral post for the bell, and inits generalvforin being substantially the same as those in ordinarydoor-bells; but instead of securing the parts to said base-plate byrivet-ing, the plate is specially adapted to receive and hold said partsas soon as they are merely put into place.

B designates the hammer, of substantially the usual form, but instead ofbeing riveted to the base-plate it turns on a stud, ci, cast on one andthe same piece with the hammer-tail, and extending through thebase-plate, as shown in Fig. 2. On the rear end of this stud there is alaterally-projecting arm, b. The hole or bearing in the base-plate forthe stud (t has a notch, c,o11one side, corresponding in form to thatot' the arm b, and on the back ot' the base plate there is arecess, d,surrounding the stud a, in which recess the arm b is received andallowed to play.

The arm b and the opening c are so located relatively that when thehammer B is swung in toward the central post to nearly its full extent,and nearly into contact with the post, they will coincide, and in whichposition the stud may be inserted and withdrawn. When thus inserted inthe base-plate and the hammer swung outward away from the post into theordinary workin g position, the arm b in the recess d will be on theback side of the metal in the plate which surrounds the hole or bearingfor the stud a, and thus hold the hammer in place, so that it can onlybe detached by forcing it inward beyond the extent of its or dinaryworking movements.

The outward movement of the hammer is limited by means of the stop f onthe baseplate. One arm of the spring (l continually bears upon thehammer-tail to throw the hairlmer outward away from the post, so thatsaid spring holds the hammer in its ordinary working position, andprevents the hammer from being accidentally brought into the positionwhich will admit of detachin g it from the plate.

I am aware that the particular manner of' hanging the hammer to thebase-plate is not new, when broadly considered, as amechanism forhinging or hanging' a swinging object, the same being quite common instoves and other articles, but, so far as I have observed, without anyspring or other mechanism which continually bears upon said swingingpart to force it into any particular position.

A swinging lever, D, with a trip or latch, e, on its swinging end ispivoted to the baseplate at a point opposite the stud or pivot of thehammer. Saidlever has an arm, g, against which one arm of the spring Cbears to t'oroe the parts into the position represented in Fig. l. Theswinging end ot' this lever is oifset toward the front to allow thelatch e to work behind it, and a stud, indicated by a broken circle inFig. l, is cast upon its back side, and a corresponding hole is cast inthe latch to receive said stud. But so far as someparts of my inventionare concerned this latch might as well be pivoted to the swinging leverby riveting or otherwise. The latch is also so formed that when in theposition shown in Fig. l, the inside edge below its pivot bears againstthe shoulder caused by the offset in the back of the swinging lever, andindicated by broken lines inFi g. 4, so that the outer end ot' thelatch, which projects so far as to engage the ham mer-tail, cannot bethrown outward beyond the point represented in Fig. l.

This swinging lever is raised by means ofan ordinary lever passedthrough the sloth ot' the base-plate when the latch engages thehammer-tail, and the two swing together on the arc ot' a circle, andthereby gradually move away from each other in their upward movementuntil they disengage, when the spring instantly returns the hammer toits former position. The swinging lever is then released and returned bythe spring G, when the latch e strikes the hammer-tail, and is swungback out of the way. Just about the time it passes the hammer-tail, andwhen it is in the position represented in Fig. 4, its lower projectingcorner, lc, Fig. 4, strikes the stop m on the baseplate, whereby thecontinued downward movement ofthe swinging lever necessitates an outwardmovement of the upper engaging-corner of the latch ready for anotherengagement, as before described.

Instead of riveting the swinging lever D to the base-plate, the latterhas abridged socket, n, to receive the rounded arm o ot' said lever,said socket being open at its upper edge to receive said arm.

There is an opening, p, in the base-plate back of the end ofthe arm g,and on the back of said arm there is a rearward-projecting stud, q, thelength of which is as long as it can be. and readily allow of therounded arm 0 being crowded into its socket, whereby the lever isprevented from rising so far as to disengage the rounded arin o from itssocket.

When the spring C is putin place, as shown in Fig. 1, the lever is heldin place so as to oscillate in the bridged socket as on a fixedfulcrurn.

Although I have described the projecting arni b as on the stud of thehammer-tail, and the notch c as in the base-plate, it is evident thatthe same result would be accomplished by making the stud and projectingarm on the base-plate and the pLvot bearing and notch in the hub of' thehammer, the same being otherwise located and combined with a spring andstop, as hereinbefore described.

I claim as my inventionl. In a bell-striking mechanism, the hammer andbase-plate, formed with a pivotal stud and projecting arm on one part',and a corresponding pivot-bearing and notch on the other part, incombination with a suitable stop,f, and the spring C, all combined andoperating together substantially as described, and for the purposespecified.

2. In a bell-striking mechanism, the combination of' the followingelements-viz., first, thehanimer; second,theswinginglever; third, thelatch, pivoted to said swinging lever, and provided with the lowerprojecting corner, k fourth, the stop m, located under the latch, andperforming the double function of limiting the motion of the swinginglever, and obstructing the corner of the latch to return it as saidlever is brought downward; and, fifth, a suitable spring for returningsaid swinging lever, all operating together substantially as described,and for the purpose specied.

3. In a bell-striking mechanism, the baseplate, having the bridgedsocket u and openingp, in combination with the swinging lever, havingrounded arm o and stud q, for engaging said socket and the side ofsaidopening, respectively, substantially as described, and for thepurpose specitied.

WILLIAM E. SPARKS.

Witnesses:

Giras. F. GORBIN, E. L. PRIOR.

